Mark Ross is from that school of thought. As a collector of all things vintage, he fixed up a 1961 Plymouth Valiant, which he occasionally cruises around his neighborhood.

Ross says he really lucked out, though, when he found an old 1944 Elgin bicycle still in good shape at a recent swap meet.

“It has two headlights and a taillight,” Ross says of the pinstriped red bike that weighs about 50 pounds. “It has a teardrop gas tank and a horn built into the bike. I was just cleaning it and removing the grease and tar off the bike.”

Eric Jackson, manager at the Richardson Bike Mart on Garland Road, says his shop rarely sees vintage bikes like that. And he should know, because the shop deals with many avid cyclists who cruise around White Rock Lake.

“They don’t come that often,” Jackson says. “It is hard to say what the value is, but in my opinion, it is what the market will bear. Classics like that aren’t being made anymore.”

Ross was storing the vintage bike on his screened front porch, but his porch wasn’t secure. When he prepared to head for work on the bike one evening, it was gone — and so were all of his tools.

“I’ve lived here for 10 years and have never had any incidents until now,” he says.

Ross hadn’t used the front porch as an entry or exit point for about two weeks, so he isn’t entirely sure when the bike was stolen. But as soon as he realized it was gone, he called police to report the theft.

Ross has also sent photos of the bike to Dallas Police Detective Leslie Bell in hopes police will find it. Ross says he also plans to take a proactive approach and comb local pawnshops looking for it on his own.

“It is a hard-to-find bike, and I hate to see it sell for scrap metal. It is more rare than my tools.”

Bell now secures his screened porch with a sturdy latch and says he plans to install a deadbolt soon.

Dallas Police Lt. Barry Payne says burglary is simply a fact of life in all big cities.

“In the 10 years he has lived there, people are always coming and going,” Payne says. “The people he knew are not the same people who lived in the community when he first moved there. He has to take responsibility when there is unsecured property at risk.”

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